We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carissa Henderson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Carissa, thanks for joining us today. Do you manage your own social media?
Social media is a huge part of my business and was (and still is) the main catalyst for my growth. I created my Instagram @aboldnewhue back in June of 2020 as a tool to showcase my design talents within my own home, gain a following, with the goal to then eventually launch my design business and gain clients from my following. Before I even announced that I was taking clients, I actually had a follower reach out to me asking for help on their own home (not knowing that I was actually about to offer this service!). This proved the power of social media for my business. UNFORTUNATELY, for me, I actually do not ENJOY social media, but the reality is, an overwhelming part of being a designer and running my own business is marketing (and in my case, social media). I started off running this completely on my own, but found it hard to be consistent, especially with the engagement portion. It takes way more than just posting some pretty pictures or videos to be successful on social media. A HUGE factor is consistent engagement with your own audience as well as other accounts and brands. The more your engage, the more people will engage back with you, and the more you will get noticed and shared. As a creative person, I found it very difficult to maintain my mental health while also constantly bombarding myself with other interior design accounts that I inevitably compare myself to. I eventually decided to hire a social media assistant whose main role was simply to handle my engagement. This seems like a small, pointless task to invest in, but it has been life changing for me. It has taken away a burden and stressor that keeps me from being consistent on my socials. She takes care of having my account engage with brands and others which I’ve noticed has created an increase in engagement, relationships, and brand partnerships on my own page, as well as helps keeps my stories interactive, fresh, and engaging so that I am shown more through that platform as well. The lesson here is to prioritize getting help in the areas that you genuinely do not enjoy, even if it seems like a simple task. Those small tasks can add up to really meaningful changes to your business and mental health!
Carissa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am an Interior Designer and E-Designer that specializes in transforming boring homes and short term vacation rentals into unexpected and colorful works of art! In a nutshell, I make unrecognizable, magazine worthy spaces for those that want to stand out from the norm. I do this through both in-person and virtual design services, so there are options for every budget and need! I also offer design courses and training to help the average homeowner/design lover harness their own creative powers to design a maximalist home that is unique to them, all on their own!
I have always been a creative person with a keen eye for interior design (and design in general). I originally majored in Fashion Merchandising at TCU and before starting my business, I worked at a Bridal Salon for 6 years! Needless to say, I did not have a typical path to interior design, but I believe that is my super power!
I always had a passion for aesthetics and an understanding of the power of pattern and color. but It was not until purchasing my first “fixer upper” home in Richardson, TX with my husband, that I was able to harness these skills into transforming our dumpy 1970’s home into a wonderland of texture, surprising details, and a fusion of all of my favorite styles. With my creative but “champagne” taste, I also found that I thrived at making the most out of my designs to completely transform a space within the constraints of our moderate budget and limited home features, whether it was through clever DIY’s or finding the right balance of high and low investments.
My experience with my own home, combined with my natural ingenuity, set the foundation to begin helping others gain the confidence in making their dramatic design dreams come to life, and in 2020, brought A Bold New Hue to homes across the nation! I do not believe in traditional design “rules” because I am not a traditional designer. I believe that ALL homes have the ability to be showstoppers, and the only thing in the way is the fear that you can not do it on your own, and that is why I am here to help make that dream a reality.
My typical client is someone who has recently purchased a home and wants it to feel special to THEM. They want to have a home that their friends gawk over and say “This is the coolest home I have ever been in!”. They crave being unique and taking their home farther than what you would expect, because it is a reflection of who they are or who they strive to be. One of the greatest compliments I have ever received from a client was her saying “I have always dreamed of having an inspiring space of my own and when I saw the design plan, I cried, because it was finally happening for me”. I create designs that are about a true transformation of a space in a way that the client, or even more traditional designers, would never think of on their own.
On a more fun note, the other part of my brand and online presence is about accepting who you are and just being a genuine, goofy, caring person. I love snort laughing, self-deprecation, connecting about mental health, obsessing over my animals, and simply being your design bestie. I’m here for you. I understand the overwhelm and anxiety that comes with tackling your home projects, and I have confidence that you can accomplish anything if you just commit to the effort and step out of your comfort zone.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Social media has SIGNIFICANTLY changed in the last year and a half, and has quite honestly become more and more difficult to break through the noise than when I first started, especially from an engagement perspective.
My primary platform is Instagram (which I currently have about 23k followers) and when I started out in 2020, it was all about the perfectly curated photo. Engagement was also higher on the app, so “likes” felt a lot easier. One thing has stayed the same though, and that is the importance of consistency and engagement. I built my following by posting consistently, engaging with current and new accounts daily, sharing larger accounts content to my stories (in hopes that they would share me in return), submitting my posts for specific competition pages that would share their favorite content each day and joining in on group giveaways with other accounts. I also submitted my home to different media outlets or tagged my posts with large publications that would sometimes share on their own page, which would give me a HUGE boost in followers. Don’t be afraid to connect with accounts that are larger than yours or relevant to your industry, Those connections are super duper important, especially when you are just starting out!
Now a days it is also about authenticity, showcasing your processes, and bringing people into your life. There was a lot of resistance from Interior Design Accounts when the shift of reels happened and beautiful pictures were no longer a priority, However, the BENEFIT of this new way is that you do not have to overthink or over beautify your content! If you are a creative project based biz like myself, constantly record you working on projects and build up that “b-roll”. Show people the start to finish, Show the progress and show your mistakes! People want to be able to connect and identify with you. This in itself will build trust.
From there, you HAVE to connect and engage. Social media is all about building relationships. Respond genuinely to comments, ask questions, do polls where people can give you feedback or opinions. Leave thoughtful comments on other people’s profiles and stories. The more you build genuine relationships, the more likely people are to support you, SHARE YOU, refer you, or buy from you. Also – a great tip is to always have some sort of call to action at the top of your post that encourages people to like, save, share or comment – such as “What is your least favorite design trend? Let me know in the comments!”. The more engagement and comments you have on a post, the more Instagram will see it as important and will show it to more people, giving you a greater chance of going viral!
So really, just have fun with your content! Make sure you are providing some sort of benefit, whether it is humor, education, or connection!
If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?
One thing that I have tried to focus more on over the last couple of years is passive income, and honestly, when client projects dip down, it is nice having an option that I can implement that I know can quickly generate additional income. The first example of this was when I created my Bold on a Budget design course. This is a 5 segment course with workbooks and video lessons that walks through how to transform your home like a maximalist designer, even when you think you suck at design. I offer this course once a year, but it has the ability to be broken up and sold as mini-lessons. Master Your Maximalism, (which is one of the segments from the Bold on a Budget course), became its own stand alone and more affordable program option. I am about to launch that as an evergreen course that people can simply click to buy at their convenience!
Another major money maker has been my virtual design sessions. These are 1 hour zoom calls where a client fills out a questionnaire in advance about their project or what they are needing help on, I review the questionnaire before the call, and we then create a game plan together in our hour session! Each session costs $250. So realistically, if I can have even 4 sessions a week, that is $1000 a week for only 6-8 hours of my time. Plus, these calls are super easy to sell since they are significantly cheaper than my other options. My plan is to focus on making these sessions a greater priority in the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aboldnewhue.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/aboldnewhue
- Facebook: facebook.com/aboldnewhue
- Other: Pinterest: pinterest.com/aboldnewhue TikTok: tiktok.com/@aboldnewhue_ Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Alyssa Udovitsch